The Stand
by Summer Wonderland
Summary: Suddenly unified to survive, eight very different teenagers are forced to strain each other until insanity or death. Will they make it to see the end of the apocalypse? Language warning; canon character encounter later. On hiatus.
1. Act One: Halls of the Dead

**Start: Act One – Halls of the Dead**

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><p><em>I wonder what was wrong with that guy...<em>

Masako, after rising to her feet and standing at the doorway in confusion for a few moments, had finally decided to move to a seat on the bench in the locker room.

She sat down, engulfing her fist in her free hand, and resting her chin atop her fingers. Just as she was about to leave, someone had rushed to the entrance of the locker room and told her to stay inside.

_She pushed the door open, and stepped over the threshold. She stood there for a minute, looking straight ahead. The halls were silent, and there was no presence among them... other than the sun and its rays on the windows..._

"_Don't come out of there!" _

_His urgent tone sounded in her ears before she could even register his face. Her attention snapped to his silver hair when he came into sight. _

"_...get out of my face, and stop shouting like that."_

_Briefly stricken silent, his scarlet eyes beamed into hers. "...I'm trying to save your life. Don't be stubborn," he frowned. "I told some other stupid girl not to leave and she's..."_

_Masako held her hands up in front of her. "__Look... I don't know who you are, or why you're so upset, but I don't care. I need to-"_

_A swift, but strong thrust made her stagger backwards and fall onto the floor. It all happened so fast, she could only manage to blink at him in the doorway. _

"_Just get back inside, and shut up."_

She heard him take off after he slammed the door, but she hadn't heard much else from him (or anyone else, for that matter) for the past five minutes. She wasn't sure what could've been wrong, but whatever it was, it shook him up like a rattle...

"Masako!"

The girl jumped up, and hastily walked towards the exit. "What's wrong?"

She turned the corner from behind a locker, and saw that her friend's brow was lifted. "What do you mean?"

Her friend, Adachi, obviously hadn't come into contact with the boy from earlier, seeing as she hadn't been thrown into the room. He probably wasn't trying to warn everyone that got near the locker room... so maybe there really wasn't anything wrong?

"...Nothing, Adachi. Never mind. Why are you looking for me anyway?"

"Oh, um," the brunette smiled. "You're not going to P.E. today, are you?"

Masako shook her head.

"Well, I'm going to ditch it with you. We're doing non-stop tennis drills today, and I didn't get any sleep last night."

Masako nodded to her friend, and turned around. "Just let me get my stuff."

"Okay. I have to get my stuff too."

Masako opened her locker, grabbed her racket and bag, and slung the straps over her shoulder. She turned to Adachi, who'd grabbed her racket and backpack from her locker as well, and started to walk toward her.

"Let's hurry so no one sees us. I don't think everyone in our class is outside already."

Masako nodded, and they walked out of the locker room. As soon as the two exited the stuffy dressing room and entered the bright hallway, Adachi stopped. Masako noticed her companion wasn't by her side after a little while, and turned around, frowning.

"What's the matter?"

The brunette appeared to be disturbed... but moreso angry than anything else.

"That guy... he's a creep."

Masako turned back around, and saw one of her male schoolmates lurking around the intersection of the four other hallways. He was dragging his feet with a weary look in his eyes, as though he were trying to get somewhere. But he didn't know how or why, and he was in no rush, either.

"Maybe he's drunk," she said as she watched his movement for a few more seconds, and turned to Adachi.

"He practically tried to eat my face!"

At this, her friend raised both brows. "Um... that's what boys do when they like you..."

"Masako, that isn't funny." Adachi placed her hands on her hips. "I told him I didn't like him yesterday, and he was giving me these strange looks this morning... He called me before school and said he wanted to talk. Then he... rushed me when I saw him a few minutes ago."

Masako turned back to face the boy, and saw a running figure behind him in the distance.

Her eyes narrowed, and shortly after, she recognized the girl. "Syoko's here anyway... he won't try anything while there's three of us," she said, uncertain of that statement. Why would he want to hurt her anyway?

Adachi reluctantly nodded, and watched as Syoko and her curly blonde ponytail came bouncing down the hall. She waved to the two, who waved back.

"Hey! Practice ditchers!"

Masako and Adachi violently brought their fingers to their mouths, trying to shush her.

"You'll get us caught, psycho!" Masako whispered angrily.

The blonde's slate-blue eyes widened in a sarcastic confusion. "Whaaaat? You _are _ditching the extra **tennis practice**, right? Your coach would be **furious**!"

"Dammit!"

Masako and Adachi ran towards her, and as Masako focused on tackling Syoko and dashed forward, she collided with the boy's shoulder. She'd turned her head back to apologize, but when she saw Adachi get close to him, she had to stop running.

"H-hey! Let me go!"

Adachi's eyes were filled with fear.. or that was what Syoko and Masako saw. The boy had grabbed her by both of her arms, and though she struggled to push him off, he continued to try to pull her close. Masako jumped the moment she heard Adachi whimper.

"She said let go, you freak!"

Masako dropped her racket and grabbed the boy's shirt, yanking as hard as she could with both arms. She felt a shock run through her body as both Syoko and Adachi shrieked afterward. Something splattered.

Masako's breath hitched in her throat as she watched Adachi fall backwards onto the floor, with the center of her face... missing. She scrambled over to her friend, grabbing her racket, not knowing if she would have to defend herself with it...

"A-adachi...!"

She choked on her exclamation as she saw her friend begin to wail on the floor. Parts of her eyes were... gone, and so was most of her nose. The muscles in her face were exposed, and blood ran down the sides of her skull and into her hair.

"M-m-masako! Behind you-"

Masako scrambled backwards against the wall, and as the fear of coming into his grasp heightened, she rose to her feet and kicked the boy in his stomach. Still terribly frightened, threw her hand out in front of her and started to run.

"Fucking come on," she whimpered, grabbing Syoko's hand and pulling it with her.

The pair ran hard and fast enough to feel their feet pound on the floor through their shoes. It hurt so much... But they couldn't focus on anything else, other than what they'd just seen.

"Wait a minute... wait!"

Syoko dropped Masako's hand, and tears welled in her eyes. They were at the end of the hall now.

"We shouldn't let anyone else go near him..."

Masako's eyes were red, straining themselves against letting her break down.

"But we...

We can't just hang around and patrol the area. He'll probably... kill us too."

The blonde bit down on her lip, and hard. She looked into Masako's eyes, and felt her throat aching. She just wanted to sob... so _badly_...

"We could go to the principal's office. Tell him. Tell everybody what just happened... on the intercom."

Masako nodded, and reached for Syoko's hand. The blonde took it, and they ran into the staircase on their left.

The raven-haired girl led her best friend up two flights of stairs, and along the way, she noticed that Syoko was... stifling her sniffles.

She stared ahead, not wanting to intrude on Syoko's grief, but wanting to tell her she could cry. That she could cry all day and night, because she had been the one to introduce Adachi to Masako. That she was always her friend before she was Masako's. That she wasn't the only one that had lost a friend, but she _was_ the only one who'd lost her best friend from kindergarten in a matter of seconds.

She would tell her in a better place, at a better time...

They came to the main hall on the third floor, and noticed that the corridor was both silent, and empty. Minus one murderer however, and thus, a big improvement from the first floor. The pair walked past classrooms, seeing a few faces watch them wander the hallway, wishing they were them, and they silently told those faces that they shouldn't want to be them. Because someone was just killed in front of their eyes.

They turned into the office, and thankfully upon first glance, the principal and his assistant saw two broken faces instead of two girls who were supposed to be somewhere else.

"What is the matter?" the woman asked, dropping her stack of papers. She hurried over to the two with outstretched arms, and Syoko stood still, crying, as the assistant hugged her and rubbed her shoulder.

"Sir... some maniac just killed our friend on the first floor," Masako barely managed to say, covering her mouth mid-sentence. Syoko crying behind her was about to push her over the edge...

The older man's features wrinkled, and he dropped his stack of papers as well, standing up. "This had better not be some kind of joke, miss Tanuma."

"We promise... it's... not," Syoko said, gasping for air in between words.

Masako started to cry as well, hunching her shoulders with sobs as the tears ran down her face. She moved to the right side of the office, sitting down on the sofa.

"Miss Nakane, call the police."

The principal came from behind his desk, and walked in front of it to the intercom. He picked up the microphone, and began to speak.

"Attention all students. A fight has broken out on campus. Please follow your instructors and evacuate the school."

"Um, excuse me..."

Masako had turned around at the soft ton of her voice, and so had Syoko. Neither of them expected to see the assistant talking to another pair of students.

"You all can't be in here right now," Miss Nakane said quietly, holding the end of the telephone.

Neither of them responded.

They just entered the office- one of them looking in Miss Nakane's direction, and the other looking towards the principal as he continued to make the announcement.

"...Did you two hear me?"

Miss Nakane put the phone back on the hook, and frowned. "I told you two to leave," she whispered.

Syoko quickly moved towards Masako, now standing, and grabbed her arm. She didn't know what to expect, but she knew the boy downstairs had acted the exact same way. No one could tell while they were under the light, but both of the students' were lazily moving forwad, and their skin was clammy.

"I'm giving you your last warning."

The boy was an arm's length away from her now, and the other student wasn't far behind. As soon as the male reached to grab her, Syoko called out.

"Miss Nakane don't let him get close!"

"Wh...what...?" She cried, throwing her arms out in front of her.

It was a mistake she didn't know to avoid. She tried to push him away, but ended up giving him something to latch on to. He audibly ripped through the flesh of her hand, and clamped his teeth to her bone.

"Sir! Get away from the girl now!" Masako yelled. The other student was by his side now, rushing forward.

"I repeat. A fight has broken out on campus. Please follow your instructors-"

His left arm and the front of his shirt were clenched between unnaturally powerful fingers. The principal shook and jerked his arm repeatedly to get her off, to no avail. The girl's reach had gotten to the side of his face, and both Masako and Syoko shut their eyes as tightly as they could.

"Help me!"

"We need to get out of here," Masako choked, pulling Syoko's arm.

"But we can't just leave them!"

Masako ignored her, and ran out of the office with the blonde's wrist in her hand. She tried as hard as she could to ignore the sound of the principal getting his face ripped off as well, but there was no one to save him... no one to stop him from screaming...

As he was torn apart over the intercom.

"No! Help!"

The two kept running after they'd hit a left out of the office. His agonizing scream rang in their ears as it blared over loudspeaker, and what was even more terrifying, was the fact that no one would ever know what was happening to him in that room except those two.

As they neared the end of the hallway, they heard voices within range. They kept running, but slowed down, as they heard whoever it was approaching their direction...

And after a few seconds, a tall blonde male turned the corner with a readied sledgehammer in his hands, and the two instantly came to a halt.

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><p><strong>End: Act One - Halls of the Dead<strong>


	2. Act Two: Alliance Against the Dead

**Start: Act Two – Alliance Against the Dead **

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><p>Masako looked at the two males, and stood completely still.<p>

Syoko remained silent as well, but after a few moments, she managed to shake her head at him. She hoped that he could see her signaling '_we're not one of them_.'

"...I think there might be more of them up on this floor," he said, obviously calling it out to someone else.

Apparently he understood. He continued to look at the two girls ahead of him, his eyes studying them for just a little while longer. He had to be sure.

Another male, the silver-haired one that Masako recognized from earlier, came from around the corner. Only this time, an unsheathed blade was in his possession, and he was a lot calmer than before.

The blonde lowered his sledgehammer, and looked to the silver-haired boy as he walked up beside him. "They were running from whatever was in the principal's office."

Masako released Syoko's wrist, and nodded. "There were two of them."

"They killed Miss Nakane," Syoko added.

"We knew as much. Did you call the police?"

There was a brief period of silence, as well as a pair of cinched facial expressions from the girls. The four stood a considerable distance away from each other, and the air grew uncomfortable for both the pairs, until Masako decided to answer the question lingering in the air.

"Didn't get a chance to." Masako said to them.

The blonde immediately tensed up, and the silver-haired boy's expression moved to disappointment.

"You should've at least tried."

"...It was either us or them," Masako responded.

The blonde shook his head, while continuing to glare at her. "It would've been for the greater good. The police might've came for us."

Silence followed again as Syoko grabbed her friend's arm and squeezed. Masako was ready to fight, and she could tell. Did he really just tell those two that they should have died?

All four sets of eyes were locked upon anothers' then, but no words were exchanged yet. Syoko stepped forward, releasing Masako's arm. She swallowed, preparing herself to sound demanding. She had to show them that they weren't just two frightened little girls.

"You guys are planning something. Aren't you? If you're getting out of here, we want to come with."

The blonde frowned immediately following her statement, and scoffed. "What makes you think we want to escape with two selfish, heartless people," he snarled. "How would we know you wouldn't run off when one of us is about to be bitten? Like you did with the principal?"

Syoko grabbed Masako's arm again, but she couldn't hush her.

"So why didn't you rush to his rescue when you heard him screaming? You're just as much of a pussy as we are if that's the case-"

"Ugh..." The silver-haired boy shook his head, sighing viciously. Why had everything gotten so out of control?

"Look, Chris." He closed the distance between the four of them. "The police probably wouldn't have listened to us anyway... we would've come off as prank callers. And she _is_ right... No one would care about anyone except themselves in this situation, and you know it."

The blonde's teal eyes moved from Masako's reddened face to his companion's. "Whatever. But _she_ needs to calm down... and watch her mouth."

The silver-haired boy turned to Masako. "And _he_ is right, too. That was a little unnecessary."

Her blue eyes widened. "He told us we should've let ourselves get killed! Like we weren't worth anything!"

"Uh, excuse me for not wanting my hair ripped out of my skull when one of those things yanks me backwards on our way out of here. While _you_ are supposed to be watching my back." The blonde grabbed his companion's shoulder, and met his attention.

"I don't want to go anywhere with them if they're just gonna run off when shit hits the fan."

"Seriously?" The slate-eyed girl threw her arms into the air. "Let us prove we won't, dammit. We just watched three people get killed and we had no idea what the fuck was going on! What would you expect us to do? Turn into a two man S.W.A.T. team with a tennis racket and a backpack?"

Syoko exhaled viciously, shaking her frustration away. "Excuse my language..."

It was quiet for a little while, and after those few moments had passed, a smile had eased it's way onto the blonde's face.

"...I'm Chris."

"...Shinigami," the silver-haired boy offered after him, with both of his eyebrows raised. They seemed to work out their issues just as quickly as they'd realized they'd had them... which was surprising, to say the least.

Syoko snickered, nodding once. "That's much better, gentlemen."

Her raven-haired friend smirked beside her. "Looks like that little outburst proved our way into their good graces... My name is Masako."

Smiling, Syoko briefly glanced to Masako and back to the two boys."And I'm Syoko."

It became apparent that the tension dropped once Shinigami threw his thumb backwards, signaling them back into the stairwell, and they followed.

"So if we fight like this again, it'll end when I yell, right?"

The four stopped right above the stairs.

"No... it'll end when somebody touches my hair."

Masako and Syoko giggled, while Shinigami rolled his eyes. "Anyway..."

He looked to the girls. "You two need weapons. You guys aren't... scared to kill those things, are you?"

Syoko shrugged, while Masako shook her head.

"I guess not..."the raven-haired girl said, emphasizing the word "guess".

Looking from her friend and to the boys, Syoko continued. "We don't know yet. I guess we'll find out if one of us looks like a deer in front of headlights before we attack, right?"

"In which case, one of us will probably die trying to save you." Chris shook his head to Shinigami, and pointed to Syoko. "She's a last resort when it comes to clearing a path out of here."

As Syoko frowned, Shinigami jogged down the steps to the fire extinguisher cabinet. There was a fire axe inside...

But of course, it would have to be under lock and key in a high school full of devious teenagers who loved ditching class in stairwells.

"Chris, come help me open this," he called as he slid his katana down the space between the cabinet door and the wall.

"When I wedge the door open a little, help me pull it-"

The glass was suddenly cracked, and the pieces crashed to the floor.

"Why would you do that! You'll attract attention!"

Chris let his sledgehammer fall to the floor at his side, and he removed the fire extinguisher from the cabinet. "What if you broke your katana? Besides, this saves us a little time, and, me from having pink fingers." He dropped the extinguisher, which audibly collided with the floor, making Shinigami cringe.

"This what you were looking for, right?" he offered, holding it out with a smile.

Red eyes now narrowed to mere slits, Shinigami took the fireaxe from his hands and carried it back up the stairs to Masako.

"Let's leave before we have to face the fact that he has killed us all."

Masako silently followed behind Shinigami, while Chris sarcastically shrugged to a giggling Syoko.

The four started on their way, and re-grouped after a few seconds of hastened walking from Chris and Syoko. They were about to turn the corner back into the hall, just before they heard a series of screams.

A big commotion followed; the sound of slamming doors, running, and crowds...

Confused, the three behind Shinigami looked at each other, and remained silent. The silver-haired boy stared ahead, but he realized that he didn't have to listen any longer to know what was happening.

"Go upstairs!"

His companions' eyes darted toward him.

Syoko raised an eyebrow. "Uh... what?"

"I said up! Up, up, up!"

"Okay, okay! Pushy..." she grumbled.

Syoko started to run first, with Chris and Masako following behind. Shinigami kept up with them, but he kept his eyes on the doorway to the hall as they ran upstairs. A second later, as he expected, a crowd of terrified students came bursting through the stairwell exit in no orderly fashion. They were pushing and shoving each other violently, and some of them looked like they didn't want to be a part of the crowd.

"Shinigami! The students on the fourth floor are coming this way too!"

The silver-haired boy's head snapped forward. The sound of floor four's students suddenly chimed in, and before he could think of how to get his companions out of this situation, Syoko had screamed.

"No, stop! Wait!"

The mindless group shoved Syoko anyway, ignoring her yells, and she was forced back down the staircase. She instantly lost her footing, and screamed a she fell backwards... into a pair of arms. Chris locked his arms under her shoulders as he flung himself back against the wall of the stairwell. Masako had done the same, only jerking the sleeve of Shinigami's trenchoat in her direction instead.

Syoko turned her head to Masako, looking into her eyes as countless bodies brushed viciously across hers. Seconds of this passed, and the students of the fourth floor had finally gotten down the stairs.

Relieved, Masako stepped away from the wall, and let go of Shinigami's sleeve. Chris lowered Syoko back onto the step.

"Thank you," she said, breathing heavily. Chris nodded to her in response, with a smile on his face. Masako also noticed that her cheeks were flushed...

"You're okay, I take it?" She asked, grinning subtly to her blonde friend.

Syoko nodded, while pulling her shirt down and straightening herself out. She also shot a wink in her direction, one that Shinigami nor Chris could notice.

"Hmm... well now that that's over with, where do we go?" Masako asked, dropping her smile to turn to Shinigami.

Chris looked to him as well. "Yeah. If any of those people in that crowd were bitten, or _get_ bitten, they're all fucked."

Shinigami listened to the two of them, and blinked once before looking to the floor. There really was no way out of the building without going downstairs...

"Have any of you been through that tunnel in the basement," Masako asked suddenly.

The red-eyed boy's eyes snapped upward. "What tunnel?"

"The tunnel that you take your beloved into to-"

Masako's eyebrows wrinkled as a hand was slapped against her mouth. Syoko glared at her, closing the space between her fingers.

"Shut up."

Chris laughed, while both Shinigami's eyebrows were hiked. "I don't think any of us are in a position to judge you right now, Syoko..."

The blonde's jaw dropped. "It's not what you...! I would never..."

Masako pushed her hand away, smiling. "_I_ know...and that's all that matters. So just forget about it. Anyway, that tunnel leads to the back of the school. Once we're out of it, we'll still sort of be in the basement, but, the door right in front of it is an exit."

"There shouldn't be anyone down there, right?" Shinigami asked.

She shook her head. "Well... other than a janitor or two... and maybe some students who are there to do the unspeakable..."

"Then we have a plan?" Chris asked, looking to the three of them.

Shinigami nodded. "We'll go down from the other side of the building to avoid all the commotion."

Together, they walked up the stairs to the fourth floor, and entered the hall.

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><p><strong>End: Act Two - Alliance against the Dead <strong>


	3. Act Three: Separated by the Dead

**Start: Act Three – Separated by the Dead**

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><p>As the four passed through the hall, they noticed that there was absolutely no one around. Literally, every person on the fourth floor had seemed to disappear- either to lower floors with the crowd, they assumed, or by choosing to linger inside classrooms. Syoko noticed a person standing by themselves through a classroom window, but she knew that he hadn't particularly 'chose' to stay there. It was more or less the fortunate case of him being locked inside... judging by the shade of his skin and his slumped posture.<p>

After seeing at least three of these people inside rooms they passed, she broke the silence.

"When we get out of the building, do you think there will be any of these things outside?"

"Hmmm..." Chris answered her without turning in her direction. "Probably. This 'infection' had to get into the school somehow."

"And that also means this 'infection' is probably all over the city," Shinigami added.

Syoko looked down, crossing her arms, and watching her feet as they entered the stairwell. She knew that they were more than likely both correct, but it was just hard to believe any of that could happen so fast. Especially without notice...

The four walked down the first flight of stairs, and as soon as they came to the next set, none of them could help but gawk into the third floor hallway. There was blood on the floor, trailing to the opposite end of the hall as far as they could see... and there were people on the floor, lying stiff. Other people, gray and covered in blood, were right above them... ripping away at their flesh.

They already knew that these things wanted to eat whatever they could get their hands on, and that was enough to steer clear of them. But they had no idea why they felt the need to kill _everyone_. Shouldn't they eventually get 'full'? When would they ever stop?

"This is disturbing," Syoko choked, covering her mouth.

Masako nodded, and swallowed painfully. "It's leaving a bad taste in my mouth."

"Well..." Shinigami ushered the two ahead. "Let's hurry then," he whispered.

Now jogging past the entry to the third floor, the four briefly glanced to the entrance to the second floor. It didn't look much better, so they sped past it. They finally came to the first floor, and Chris was the first to stop ahead of the others.

"Uh, problem."

Syoko's eyes snapped upwards to the sound of his voice. They were standing in the stairwell exit now. Looking past Chris in the doorway, Masako and Syoko saw two crowds.

One was on the far end of the hall, slowly inching toward the middle. The other was a little further past the very exit they stood in. Both of the crowds were undead.

The problem that Chris was referring to, however, was the situation of the two people _in between_ those crowds. A short brunette, with curls to her waist and black rimmed glasses, was back to back with a black-haired giant, wielding a broomstick. The boy had blue-green eyes, a badly stained uniform, and a long lead pipe at his side.

The brunette girl glanced at the horde of undead behind her, and faced forward again. "Itachi-kun... there are people up there! And the ones behind us aren't that close..." she mumbled quickly. "We can make it!"

Shinigami took that as a signal and moved forward, but he found the sleeve of his coat pinned behind his body. He turned around, and Masako was holding his arm. Her eyes were cold, harsh, and angry.

"_We _are trying to get out of here. _They_ are trying to get eaten by a mob."

His eyebrows furrowed angrily, and he pulled away from her. "What? Let go! You can't be serious."

She continued to grip his arm, and yelled. "If we take them with us they'll only slow us down!"

Shaking his head slightly in disbelief, he jerked his arm back.

"Move this way!" he shouted, running toward the crowd.

Masako watched with an expression of disgust as Chris took off behind him. "And don't stop until you're through!"

The brunette girl in the middle of the hallway released her companion, and stepped back without moving too far. Itachi lifted his pole immediately, and with a swift jerk to the left, a handful of the crowd collided with the wall. Chris raised his sledgehammer above his head and brought it down on the skull of one of his former classmates, alongside Shinigami, who easily cut through at least three of them in half the time. The range of Itachi's pole allowed him to push a majority of the crowd to the sides in a few swings, and combined with Chris and Shinigami's work, a straight path had been cleared.

"Come over here!" Syoko's voice called to the girl, who ran in her direction, but not before pulling Itachi's sleeve with her.

The four in the hall started to run back towards the stairs, and Syoko nudged Masako to get a head start into the first floor hallway.

"We need to get to that tunnel. Now." Shinigami said, looking sternly to Syoko.

"It's this way," Masako spat. She sensed that his tone was indirectly meant for her because she had seemed heartless a moment ago, but if he wanted her to take a share in the teamwork, he'd get it...

She started to speed down the hallway, and her companion's footsteps immediately began to follow behind her at a distance. Suddenly, she jerked her fireaxe to her side. She wouldn't slow down, and she wouldn't dare hesitate when she got near, but there it was again...

"Don't hold back!" she heard Shinigami call.

Masako swallowed. Adachi's body was still on the ground where she'd seen it last, but her torso had been mutilated. The corpse responsible stood up, with her friend's blood on his mouth, and turned. The raven-haired girl took a few more steps, hiked her axe, and finally let out a cry- blood was splattered across her face. With a kick, the headless body fell to the floor. Masako spun around soon after, as breaking glass sounded in her ears.

The short brunette girl screamed, and Itachi grabbed her shirt to pull her back. Syoko and Chris stood behind them, watching as a horde of the P.E. class poured into the intersection from the school's main entrance.

"...We'll go around!" Syoko shouted, turning around. "This way!"

Masako watched as Syoko, Chris, Itachi and the girl ran in the opposite direction. They turned the corner, and with this, Masako was assured.

"Come on," Shinigami said, catching her attention.

She nodded quickly, and started to turn the corner on the left with Shinigami by her side. There were a handful of the undead in that hall, and Shinigami managed to dispose of them all while Masako ran through.

The two reached the end of the hall, and Masako stopped in front of the door on their left. She twisted the knob, but... the door was slightly open. Someone had already been down there.

Masako held a finger to her lips as she pushed the door open with her foot, and quickly stepped back.

Shinigami remained silent, catching on. This was to make sure the undead couldn't catch them by surprise if they went through a door they'd never been through before. The two waited for a few seconds, and listened closely for any movement.

There was no one there, or at least that was from what they could tell. Shinigami entered first.

It was a short stairwell; stuffy, rusted, and dark. It lead to an old janitor's station below. Shinigami assumed this used to be where the school's first janitor worked, since the cleaning supplies and mops were all old.

The two descended the stairs, and stopped in front of another door, which hadn't appeared to've been opened in a long time. There was a towel on the knob, however. Students probably used it to get inside.

Masako gripped the towel and turned, pushing the door open. They waited again like before, and after nothing sounded, the two peered into the tunnel. At the end of the long, dark corridor was a door, with sunlight pouring through the space between the floor and the bottom of the door. There were only two lights on the left wall, and they revealed two stations inside the wall on the opposite side.

"Let's wait for the others." Masako said softly, closing the door back.

Shinigami nodded to her, and lowered his katana. "Ok."

She leaned back against the wall beside the door, and looked to the floor, letting her arms fall to her side. The fireaxe made a small clink against the ground, at which, Shinigami's attention was drawn. He found his eyes traveling upward after that; from what was revealed by her gym uniform, to her eyelids, as she wiped the blood from her face with both of her hands. He made sure to look away before she could open them...

"_Through that door!_"

Masako's eyes opened again.

"They're here." Shinigami said. He shifted to a readied position, and Masako ran to his side.

The door flew open, clashing with the wall as it creaked on its hinges. The short brunette ran down the stairs with Syoko behind her, and there was a commotion in the hall upstairs. Chris and Itachi must have still been fighting off the undead.

"The hallway was empty when we were up there..." Masako muttered to herself.

Shinigami looked to Syoko. "Do they need help?"

"No," she answered, breathing heavily. "There were just a few stragglers."

Enforcing her statement, Chris and Itachi both appeared in the doorway. Itachi slammed the door shut quickly after, while Chris descended the stairs.

"Are you guys okay? Was anyone bitten?" Masako asked.

Syoko shook her head, looking slightly disappointed. "No, Masako."

"...What? All I did was ask-"

Syoko held her hand up, and shook her head again.

Masako frowned, and decided to look away. She knew that she seemed a little heartless with all that had just happened, but she felt completely justified in acting the way she did. Masako just wanted to make sure that she and her best friend made it out of this alive. Shinigami and Chris, well...

They were okay, since they were their main means of defense. But if one of them were to get bitten, she'd leave them in a heartbeat.

Trying to distract herself, her eyes shifted to Chris, who was now brushing the front of his uniform with his free hand. His shirt was as bloodied as Itachi's was now, and so were Syoko's and the brunette's uniforms. There were red stains in the center of their shirts, and splatters covered their shoulders, pants, shoes, and the bottoms of Syoko's and the brunette's skirts.

She and Shinigami's uniforms weren't much cleaner, but those four had clearly fought the bloodiest battle.

"So... what are your names?" Syoko asked pleasantly.

The tallest boy, close to Chris' height, joined the circle of students near the janitor's station. "I'm Itachi, and this is Hoshiko." The boy answered, extending his hand to the short brunette.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Syoko," the blonde said, pointing to herself. "And this is Shinigami, Chris, and Masako." She pointed to each of them as she introduced them.

Syoko was still smiling, but that was until Hoshiko didn't seem to smile back. A few moments of silence passed, but it wasn't enough time for the air to grow too uncomfortable.

"Is... something wrong?" Syoko asked the brunette.

"After we get out of here, I'm going my own way with Itachi. There's really no need for introductions."

Itachi frowned, shaking his head as he spoke. "Hoshiko, I know we don't know them, but-"

"It's better that way. I don't want to be with anyone else... and I don't want to slow them down. I mean... I especially don't want _them_ to slow _us_ down..."

Hoshiko stated this with a flat tone, and though Syoko felt a little insulted, she could only comply. "... Okay... But, where will you go after you're outside?"

Itachi shrugged. "We don't know yet."

"But we'll figure it out," the brunette finished. "Don't worry about us."

Syoko blinked at her a few times, and decided to say nothing more to either of them about it. "...I suppose we should get moving, then."

* * *

><p><strong>End: Act Three – Separated by the Dead <strong>

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><p><strong>AN:** Please don't hesitate to tell me if there's anything off or weird. Thanks for reading, love you guys~!


	4. Act Four: Escaping the Dead

**Start: Act Four – Escaping the Dead**

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><p>The six walked down the dark tunnel. Their footsteps echoed through the entire corridor, and they were nearing the janitor stations inside the wall just before Shinigami whispered for the group to halt.<p>

He walked ahead of the five of his companions, and stepped back against the left side of the tunnel. He wanted to check the stations to make sure no one could surprise them on their way past.

The silver-haired boy brought a finger to his lips, and then stared ahead into the empty blackness. Only a corner of the janitor's desk inside the station was visible. After a minute of silence, he looked into the group of his companions.

"Masako. The other one." he said, tilting his head toward the other station.

From the front of the group, she nodded and quietly jogged past him; then stopped briefly, inching toward the other station. After a few moments, she stepped out in front of the space. She turned her head to Shinigami, and shook her head. "I don't see anything."

He looked to the group, and gestured for them to move. "Ok. We can go now."

"Shinigami!"

His eyes snapped back towards Masako, who was inches away from one of _them, _and ran over. She was falling backwards, on purpose, to get away from the thing that had her under it's control by her neck. He raised his katana in the air, but as he imagined the katana going through the undead janitor's back, it _also_ cut into Masako's stomach. Panicking, he dropped the blade, and pushed the janitor as hard as he could. It stumbled sideways, and since Masako had no one holding her up, she lost her footing and fell against the wall.

Shinigami hurried over to Masako as soon as he saw Itachi and Chris running towards him in the corner of his eye. He grabbed both of Masako's hands and pulled her up, while the whip of a swing was soon met with the sound of a pound into flesh. There was another, and eventually, a splatter sounded to their right.

"Are you alright?" he asked, searching her eyes. They were full of... shock. Wide-eyed, blank... shock.

Masako only stared. She didn't say anything, and by this time, Syoko had been beside them.

"I think she just wants to move on," The blonde said. She knew her friend better than anyone, and Masako hated being scared.

Shinigami looked to her and nodded, and the group started to move forward. He picked up his katana along the way, and as they approached the door in the darkness, more cautiously this time of course, Shinigami heard a quiet conversation taking place.

"You'll be okay. You're a big girl, right?"

That was Chris' voice.

"Actually she's pretty small compared to you."

...He didn't recognize that one. Maybe it was Itachi's, then.

"Yeah, but Shinigami came to your rescue. He's a big guy at least."

"Actually, he's not as big as you either."

Somebody started to shuffle, and jog... backwards. "Hmm...

Only a small difference," a feminine voice said, more distant now.

"See, only a small difference. Thanks Syoko."

A short "mhmm" hummed from her throat.

"Like I was saying, you have a personal bodyguard. He got that guy off of you in... point-two seconds."

Syoko was still speaking lowly. "Ohhh, you noticed that too...?"

A giggle followed, and a few others chuckled with her.

"I don't know about you, but I think he's sweet on-"

The group came to a halt, and almost immediately, Shinigami had his eyes on Itachi, who had expected to finish his sentence.

"She almost died. What was I supposed to do? Shut up and be serious."

He was taken aback, and shook his head. "Sorry man.. We didn't mean to piss you off or anything. It was only a joke."

His glare eased, but only slightly. "Just drop it from now on," he said, turning around with the hopes of discouraging him from talking anymore.

"...But if he starts to make googly eyes at you Masako, then you'll know why, right?"

"Oh shut up, Itachi!"

A sigh followed. "Just trying to lighten the mood, Hoshiko..."

Ignoring them, he leaned against the door, with his katana in his hand. "We're about to be out of the door now. Are you all ready for me to open it?" Shinigami asked, directing his voice backwards.

Chris asked the same question. "Is everybody ready?" A few seconds passed. "Yup, we're ready."

Shinigami nodded. "If you two are really splitting, we won't be able to help you. You three stay behind me. I'm going to go for the front gate, but if we need to think further, does anyone want to go anywhere specific?"

Chris answered. "We can always head for my house. It's a little far, but it's a straight shot for the first couple of blocks."

"Okay. Masako, Syoko?"

"Yeah?" they both answered.

"Stay close to Chris."

"Oh, so you get to kill everything and be the badass zombie-killing machine while I'm stuck on security detail... ow."

He turned briefly to see an angry Syoko glaring at Chris, who was rubbing his right arm.

"Be ready!"

He pushed the door open, and as the tunnel flooded with light, He took in every aspect of the outside world he could see so far.

It was nearing the evening, about six p.m. The sky was a warm blend of early morning, night, and mid-day, with the sun directly ahead of them. There was a single van in the area. It was already moving toward the gates, so their was no point in even considering a vehicle. There were stragglers outside in gym uniforms... the entire P.E. Class had been turned, apparently. Blood decorated the concrete every few steps, and outside the front gate was a horde of undead citizens.

The path to the gymnasium was only littered with a few of the previous gym class however, and Shinigami had already thrown his plan into action.

"Set a boundary for the three of you as I clear the way," he called to Chris, who nodded and complied.

"Bye, you two. Be safe," Syoko said, nodding to them as she watched Itachi and Hoshiko head in the direction of the back gate. Itachi waved back, and Hoshiko kept running forward to be sure that one of them was paying attention to their path. The blonde turned her head before she could see the two forced to defend themselves, and silently prayed that they would at least make it away from their sights safely...

And soon enough, she was watching Shinigami's form obliterate the undead in their way to the gymnasium. Masako was patrolling their left and right while Chris followed the direction of her gaze, prepared to attack.

Shinigami turned his head to them, with his katana positioned between his knees. "Go inside!"

Masako grabbed Syoko's hand and ran forward. The undead seemed to close in on their path, as if they were now aware of their presence. Had they made too much noise?

As they neared the doors to the gymnasium, Syoko looked back. Shinigami was right behind them, and Chris was a little further back.

"Keep looking forward."

Her eyes darted back to Shinigami's. She turned around, and found that Masako had now opened the gymnasium doors.

The three went inside, and Shinigami kept his focus on what was behind them inside the gym. Masako held the door open for Chris, and as soon as he had gotten inside, she shut the door.

"Did anyone see outside the gates? Those looked like people in town..."

"Not now, Syoko. We have bigger problems."

She turned around. Shinigami had been referring to the zombies inside the huge gymnasium, and the two people fighting them off from a shrinking corner of the room.

"Please, let's just leave..."

Masako had grabbed Shinigami's sleeve before he could even think about helping them.

"I just want to get out of here."

Realizing his elbow was raised to jerk it away from her grasp, he decided to simply drop it instead. "You wouldn't want anyone to say that about you if you were in that situation, would you?"

"But there are so many of them..." her voice trailed off as she looked into his eyes.

He shook his head at her. "You're just shaken up."

"Don't I have every right to be?"

"Masako, we're helping them. No questions asked." Syoko had been glaring at her now.

All she could do was become silent, and let her gaze fall to the floor. She still felt Shinigami's eyes on her, however, and it made her feel... under fire.

"Don't start acting like that. You're helping too. Come on."

Masako exhaled silently, but didn't look up to acknowledge anyone's reaction to her. She just moved forward, behind Chris and Shinigami.

Chris held the left, Masako moved to the right, and Shinigami focused on the middle. Syoko had remained by the entrance, but moved to a corner so not to attract anymore attention to the doors.

Shinigami, while absentmindedly slicing through several bodies in his swings, watched out for the two in the corner. The crowd separating the two groups was not as thick as it was long, so they stood a chance of not being overwhelmed.

There was a girl an a boy; both with baseball bats, and both obviously very capable of defending themselves. They had acknowledged the other group's presence, but they had yet to let it distract them.

After dismembered, brutally bashed, and twitching bodies covered the gymnasium's floor on Shinigami's side, the boy and the girl started to move toward the middle. There was eye contact for a brief moment, and the boy decided to speak first.

"We've closed off the area for right now. If we can clear out the rest of these things, we'll be safe in here."

He nodded, and returned his focus to the situation. On his left, Chris had seemed to favor a tactic that involved letting his strength take care of any zombies that dared to get close enough, and letting his hammer make sure they didn't get the opportunity to try it again. He was doing fine, with none of the undead nearby (that he couldn't control), and didn't seem tired.

On his right, Masako had been leading single zombies far away from the mass she controlled, and taking care of them from their distances away from the rest. He silently approved, since she was smart enough to consider her own strength.

He didn't have to worry about himself, of course. The boy and the girl were near him, and they were capable defenders. He wasn't defenseless, either.

So he turned around, and saw Syoko raising a thumb to him. She hadn't made any noise, so none of them had bothered to even shuffle in that direction.

He moved to his right, and decided to help Masako. The other two had moved in Chris' direction now that the middle of the gymnasium was clear.

With him killing the majority that were in back, Masako had started to feel a little better. She had been pacing herself, so she wasn't tired, and she hadn't come close to getting bitten, either. She felt calm as the number of undead on their side began to shrink to zero.

As she watched Shinigami plunge his katana through a the side of a nose, and kick the body from the end of his blade, she let her axe fall to her side. She was even bloodier than she was before, and so were Chris and Shinigami. The wiped the blood downwards from her bare legs, and ended up smearing it all over herself.

She looked up, to find Shinigami's gaze upon her. "We're done," he called.

She nodded, and walked to the center of the room, meeting with Syoko, Chris, and the other two people. One was a girl, with wavy black-blue hair that was a little messy (from the killing, she presumed). Her eyes were brown, and her complexion was close to that of Masako's.

The boy was five foot eight, with green eyes and spiked black hair. Both of them were carrying metal baseball bats.

The girl spoke first. "My name is Sora. This is Katsu. Don't bother telling him your names, he'll just call you something ridiculous that characterizes you in five or less words."

"Got to it before I could, did you? Well, since it's out there..."

He turned to Masako. "Grumpy of the seven dwarfs."

She blinked.

"Like I thought," he said, grinning. He then turned to Shinigami.

"Hmm..." He looked him up and down, and after a few seconds, shared his observation. "Dante of Devil May Cry."

Shinigami raised both eyebrows. "Uh huh. Keep it moving."

"Okay... on to..." He started to laugh. "The mighty Thor of Asgard! You've got the hammer and everything."

Chris smiled, shaking his head. "It is fitting, so I guess I can't get upset..."

Now it was Syoko's turn, she supposed... but he couldn't seem to think of anything. His mouth twisted in thought. "Blondie? But that's too obvious, right?"

She nodded and crossed her arms, playing along. "Yeah. You can do better."

He thought for a little while longer, and finally seemed to have his answer as he shouted "Aha!"

"Princess Peach."

Her enthusiasm dropped. "Of all the..."

"Anyway," Sora exhaled, requesting the group's attention. "I'd like to call you by your real names."

"I'm Shinigami." He looked to his side, and followed the group by their names as he saw them. "Masako, Chris, Syoko."

Sora nodded, and smiled. "Nice to meet you all. Thanks for helping us."

"It was no problem," Chris said.

Shinigami sheathed his katana. "So, how long do you suppose we'll be in here?"

* * *

><p><strong>End: Act Four – Escaping the Dead<strong>


End file.
